First Olympic champion Alexander Zverev was stopped by a swarm of bees, then Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz was a size too big for him. The 26-year-old from Hamburg missed the semifinals of the tennis masters tournament in Indian Wells, California, on Thursday (local time). Zverev lost in the quarterfinals against Alcaraz 3:6, 1:6.
The Spaniard will now face Australian Open winner Jannik Sinner. The Italian had no problems in the 6:3, 6:3 win against the Czech Jiri Lehecka.
A swarm of bees caused a stir during Zverev’s game, causing an interruption when the score was 1-1 in the first set. Alcaraz, who was serving, first lashed out and then fled into the dressing room. Pictures also showed how countless bees positioned themselves on a camera. “I have never seen anything like this in my 39 years of tennis. Unbelievable,” wrote tennis legend Boris Becker on X.
Alcaraz himself said after the game: “I’m not going to lie, I’m a bit afraid of bees. This was definitely the most unusual match I have ever played in my career. We will always remember the match – because of the bees, not because of the tennis.”
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Zverev has never made it past the quarterfinals in Indian Wells. His last title at a Masters dates back to 2021, when Zverev won both the clay court tournament in Madrid and the hard court tournament in Cincinnati.